I’ve been doing some reading this morning about different diet plans and supplements like Adios.

A lot of them talk about their ability to kick-start your weight loss, all well and good but what are you going to do once you’ve finished them?

Someone said to me that a particular diet plan had worked for them, by that they meant that they had lost weight while on it, however I pointed out that they had now put back on (and more) all the weight so my view was that it hadn’t worked?

There are of course people who use them, lose the weight and get so motivated at that stage that they can carry on losing and sustaining but my experience is that they are not the norm.

The norm is to revert to same, the diet ends and it’s back to the ‘normal’ eating behaviour.

So why do the diet at all, take a different approach, remember those questions I asked you about your experience with diets, well if you’ve been on more than two and always put the weight back on then it really doesn’t matter which ‘diet’ you choose, chances are it won’t work for you.

So let’s try something very simple. When you serve up tonight’s dinner, put your normal amount on the plate. Now take 25% back off the plate and rearrange it so it looks like it fills the plate or transfer it to a smaller plate so it looks more. An instant reduction in calories of 25%.

And tell me when you’ve eaten it, did you really notice it was that much smaller?

Like this:

So I’ve been a bit bossy and very honest about what being big is like and what motivated me to want to change things.

Your question will be now – how did you do it?

Well initially through ‘food’ alone, no exercise, however as I got smaller I had more energy and then just moved more which does speed up your metabolism (more on that later or click on Top Ten Tips for some advance reading).

I didn’t go on a Diet

This was the most important thing for me – I love food, love cooking and love eating, this process wasn’t going to work unless I found a way to be able to continue my love affair. So this sparks off a whole discussion about how you can do this?

I’m not a fan of diets, for me they just say ‘hey, you can’t have me, I’m bad for you!’ no matter how you look at it, it’s about what you can’t have (normally the things you like) and you feel deprived. Even if there is a nice long list of the things you can have there will be more that you can’t, that you will miss. A diet always starts with something negative. Common sense told me that if losing weight could be a more positive experience, you were more likely to succeed?

On a diet food remains in control, I wanted to find a way of me being in control of food, that way I could always have the food I wanted and loved. I didn’t want to deprive myself of anything.

There is also an end date to a ‘diet’, the holiday or your target weight. Taking away the ‘end element’ means you can focus on making long-term changes and achieving goals that can be sustained.

Sustaining weight loss means changing your life totally, if you always yo-yo then you already have your answer as to whether diets work for you. If they did you would have kept the weight off, your issue isn’t losing weight, it’s about sustaining the loss therefore you need to change the focus.

So my first affirmation was that I wouldn’t be on a diet; I would purely change how, what I eat and when. And most importantly how much?

I have some questions for you:

1. Do you know how much you actually consume in a day – this covers food and drink? Try writing it down across 24 hours, take photos of the plates of food you serve, this will come in useful later. Be honest with yourself, remember to include everything, so if you put 2 spoonfuls of sugar in your tea, write it down. Include the times you eat everything as well.

2. How many diets have you been on over the years? Make a list of them, how long you were on them, how much you lost, what was positive about them and what things you really hated. How long did it take for you to put the weight back on, and how much weight did you gain?

We’ll come back to your lists, are you interested yet in making the changes though?

It’s quite simple really. I’ve lost six stone in weight without being on a ‘diet’ and am now fitter and healthier than I have even been. I’ve changed my whole life, quite amazing really considering two years ago I was 18 and a half stone, had zero willpower and had avoided any form of exercise for 42 years!

By ‘diet’ I mean I haven’t done what is traditionally referred to as a ‘diet’ – no weightwatchers, Atkins, Dukan, Cabbage Soup etc.

I’m nothing special, I’m an ordinary 43 year old girl but even I have to admit that what I’ve managed to do is extraordinary!

I’m not pretending to be an expert, I’m not qualified other than what I’ve done has worked! Over the course of the last couple of years I’ve read an incredible amount, talked to experts, and experienced and learnt a hell of a lot about losing weight, keeping it off and getting fit.

So I want to share that experience and what I’ve learnt, in the hope it might inspire others to give it a go and reap the rewards – which are massive by the way.

If you’ve spent years on yo-yo diets which haven’t worked or just think you can never lose weight then read on – you might just have found the solution.